Bucks hope some of Pistons’ success rubs off on them

ST. FRANCIS, Wis.—Sitting on the corner of the office windowsill that overlooks the Bucks’ practice court just outside Milwaukee is a picture of John Hammond sitting next to Pistons president Joe Dumars. Hammond is now the general manager of the Milwaukee Bucks, but until this summer, he was Dumars’ right-hand man in Detroit, offering an important voice to one of the most successful NBA front-office operations of the last seven years. Still, most new GMs prefer to distance themselves from their old jobs, to forge their own identities. For Hammond, though, the shadow of his experience in Detroit and his relationship with Dumars looms large over his new job in Milwaukee. And that’s fine with him.
“Why not?” Hammond said. “I am proud of what we did there. I am proud of what I helped Joe Dumars and Detroit accomplish in the seven years I was there. We’re all products of our environments. And the Detroit Pistons, that is such a great environment. So, I say that I came from there, and I say it with pride.”
Indeed, Detroit has a pretty strong hold on Hammond—his family is still there, because the Hammonds did not want to disrupt his daughter’s senior year in high school. That has meant many long trips around (or over, by ferry) Lake Michigan this summer, and visits to his wife and daughter will get more difficult once training camp starts next week. But that hasn’t kept Hammond from doing his job, and it’s easy to be impressed when you consider what he’s been able to accomplish in his short time in charge in Milwaukee.
. Small forward had been a black hole, so he dumped Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons to bring in Richard Jefferson from the Nets, and he drafted Joe Alexander out of West Virginia. Frontcourt depth was lacking, so he signed Malik Allen and Francisco Elson to back up Andrew Bogut and Charlie Villanueva. Hammond determined that Maurice Williams was not a good fit, because he was a score-first point guard and his contract numbers (five more years at $43 million total) would kill the team’s roster flexibility for years. So Williams was sent to Cleveland, with Milwaukee getting passing point man Luke Ridnour from Oklahoma City in part of the three-team deal. Tyronn Lue also was signed as a backup.
In all, the Bucks will be going with nine new players. “I had someone talking to me about last year’s team the other day, saying, ‘Well, this guy did a good job and that guy did a good job,’” Hammond said. “I thought, ‘No, no, no one did a good job last year. When you win 26 games, no one did a good job.”
This team figures to be better. Much better. There is a quality starter at every position and insurance on the bench. Rebounding could be a weakness, but the hope is that Jefferson’s rebounding ability and an increased effort on the glass from Bogut will mask the problem. Better defense and rebounding are critical to getting the Bucks turned around.
More important, though, is that this team figures to be more focused than Bucks teams of recent vintage. They’ve all got a reason to be a little ticked off. New coach Scott Skiles is ticked off because he took the fall for last year’s Bulls disaster. Ridnour is ticked off because the Sonics/Thunder essentially left him adrift for the last two years. Villanueva will play ticked off because he is approaching free agency. Jefferson is ticked off because the Nets dumped him. And Michael Redd ought to be ticked off because he is making max-player money for a team that hasn’t finished .500 since ‘94.